When two storms collide!

On Aug. 11th, two major dust storms (haboob) hit the city of Phoenix. 1st one arrived mid morning, with fierce winds, followed by torrential rain. Caught me by surprise and didn't have my camera ready.

2nd storm warning came in for that evening. A couple of us bravely/foolishly ventured into the open desert near Superstition Mountain, to find a good vantage point to photograph the event. Nature didn't let us down. Needless to say, it was exciting and unnerving to be standing there with a big aluminum Manfrotto tripod, as bolts of lightning came down all around us!

Monsoon thunderstorm to the East, vs. Dust Storm approaching from the South. It wasn't a big one, dust wall was less than a mile high. Wind speed did hit 62 mph (100 kph) in some parts of the city.

Wind and rain was soon right over our location. But the dust storm reached us first due to its speed.
I made a hasty retreat with my gear as the first drops hit. Glad I did. Friend stayed 10 minutes longer and got pelted.

Links in this page may be to our affiliates. Sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.